Ceramic materials are widely used in applications where high temperatures are encountered. Frequently ceramic materials are used to provide thermal insulation in high temperature application.
One particularly significant use is in the field of gas turbine engines wherein ceramic thermal barrier coatings are increasingly employed to protect turbine components from high temperature environments thereby extending component lives and permitting enhanced fuel economy.
A selection of patents relating to gas turbine engine thermal barrier coating systems includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,248,940, 4,414,249, and 4,055,705; many similar patents have also issued. Some patents (see for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,975,165) use of ceria as a ceramic thermal barrier material although apparently no patent has focused on ceria or illustrated the practical investigation or application of ceria as a thermal barrier coating.